If you saw the 2011 issue of Seacoast Bride, then you will have seen the amazing photo shoot done for a $25K budget. We reached out to Jennifer with Cookie Creatives, who designed the dessert spread for this shoot to talk about her inspiration behind the design and to explain to us how the spread can be altered to fit any couple’s budget!
PW: Please describe your dessert table for a $25k wedding. What did the table include for baked items? Any special ingredients or must haves?
JB: For this table I chose to do a variety of desserts and confections that both incorporated the wedding colors and evoked the feel of summer in New England. The sweets included chocolate lemon mousse cups, sea salt caramels, white chocolate starfish, homemade marshmallows, 2 kinds of mini cupcakes, lemon ginger swirl cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, rock candy, blueberry flavored candy sticks, cake pops, large decorated cookies, as well as mini seashell sugar cookies, caramel popcorn balls, two flavors of meringues, and finally shot glasses filled with sparkling cider and a blueberry puree. One of the must haves were the large decorated cookies because they’re a great way to bring in color and personalize the table to the event. Another was the use of lemon and blueberry which is a very summery combination.
PW: What design elements were used? What was your inspiration? How did you go about deciding on the design?
JB: Some of the design elements included using rustic wooden boxes provided by Carrie that matched the centerpieces on the tables and added height to the display. I also incorporated the branches and one of the yellow plates from the dining tables to pull in the color. The square white plates looked crisp and really popped against the bright turquoise tablecloth. This helped showcase the desserts and sweets. I used a variety of bowls and vases to add some interest while also displaying items in a way that used less surface area on the table. My inspiration was really the colors that Carrie had selected, as well as an overall summer feel and the waterfront location. By making a variety of desserts; some tall, some long, some small, some that could be stacked, etc… I was able to have options and piece together the final display using the 3 wooden boxes as a starting point then working outward.
PW: If you had to cut down your budget, what would you change or take out? If a couple wanted to splurge a bit more, what would you change or add to the dessert buffet?
JB: To cut down on the budget I would remove some of the items. Having such a large variety of dessert choices on the display does increase the overall price of the table. A few things that could be removed while still maintaining the original feel/style of the table are the mini seashell cookies, the sea salt caramels, the popcorn balls in the branches, the rock candy, and the lemon ginger cookies. To splurge a bit more you could replace some of the items with more expensive desserts, for example rather than basic mini cupcakes you could do filled mini cupcakes or change out the lemon ginger cookies for more luxurious lemongrass ginger French macaroons.
PW: Which of your items were your favorite? Why?
JB: I was very happy with how all the desserts came together and one of my favorite items was the lemon mousse cups because I love the flavor combination. Also the decision to make the meringues in the two sizes and colors made for an interesting display in the square vase. I really liked the shots because I think that they added something unexpected and a bit out of the box to the list of treats. Finally the placement of the popcorn balls in the branches had a whimsical and light feel.
$25k Design Team:
location | Harbour Place, Portsmouth NH
photography | Douglas Levy
floral designer | Dutch Bloemen Winkel
invitations and paper | Parrott Design Studio
desserts | Cookie Creatives by Jennifer
hair and makeup | Wingate Salon
tent | Sperry Tents Seacoast
*previously posted on 3.3.11
images above by 
